Depression decisions — 2008

The Board has determined that the veteran does not have current diagnoses of depression or hypertension, and thus service connection for these conditions is denied.

The Board denied service connection for hepatitis C, diabetes mellitus, and depression. The veteran's current hepatitis C was not found to be related to his military service or herbicide exposure. Diabetes mellitus was also not linked to service or herbicide exposure. Depression was not attributable to service.

The Board finds that the evidence is in equipoise and grants service connection for depression with panic and anxiety secondary to his service-connected disability.

The Board found that the veteran does not have any of the claimed mental disorders (depression, bipolar disorder, schizoaffective disorder, paranoid schizophrenia, or attention deficit disorder) that are related to her military service.

The veteran's disabilities do not meet the criteria for a permanent and total disability rating for nonservice-connected pension benefits.

The VA determined that the veteran's depression with insomnia warrants a rating of 30 percent, effective March 10, 2003.

The Board dismissed the appeal as the veteran did not timely file a Substantive Appeal regarding his earlier effective date claim for a 100 percent rating for major depression with psychotic features.

The Board has granted service connection for a depressive disorder and assigned a 10 percent rating, effective June 7, 2006. However, the veteran's condition does not meet the criteria for an increased rating higher than 10 percent.

The Board has determined that the veteran's service-connected disabilities did not cause or contribute substantially to his death from adult respiratory distress syndrome due to metastatic esophageal cancer.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for a depressive disorder, pension benefits based on individual unemployability, and special monthly pension benefits due to her disabilities not meeting the threshold requirements.

The veteran's appeal is being remanded for further development and consideration of his claim for a total rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.

The Board has determined that the veteran does not have a current disability for which service connection can be granted, specifically bilateral hearing loss and myopia/presbyopia. The adjustment disorder with depressed mood claim is also denied.

The Board dismissed the veteran's claim as he did not file a valid and timely substantive appeal.

The Board found that the veteran does not have prostate cancer, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, or depression that is attributable to military service, including exposure to ionizing radiation. The claims were denied.

The veteran's nonservice-connected disabilities do not combine to meet the criteria for a permanent and total disability rating for pension purposes.

The Board found that the appellant's character of discharge was under dishonorable conditions due to frequent periods of being absent without leave (AWOL) and other offenses, which acted as a bar to VA compensation benefits.

The Board found that the severance of service connection for PTSD with anxiety/depression was not proper due to insufficient evidence of clear and unmistakable error in the original grant of service connection.

The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD and major depression, finding that there was no evidence of a current disability or persistent symptoms. The VA treatment records did not support the presence of these conditions after discharge from service.

The veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection were denied. The temporary total disability rating claim was also denied.

The veteran's disabilities do not meet the criteria for a permanent and total disability rating for nonservice-connected pension benefits.